


what a helpless haze we're in

by xambedox



Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, My first Soulmate AU, but i might throw the odd bit of jaebum in there too, but we'll see as the story goes on, i think it's mostly gonna follow jinyoung's pov, not totally sure how much they'll be able to share with each other atm, v exciting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-15 23:57:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16074080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xambedox/pseuds/xambedox
Summary: in which two people fall in love, at different times, and in different ways





	what a helpless haze we're in

**Author's Note:**

> bc you can't go wrong with soulmates jj project
> 
> also short chapter for set up but they'll get longer

Jinyoung sits at the bus stop, book in hand and wills the time to pass quickly. His fingers are starting to ache from the cold, but he’d rather fight through that than have to sit alone with his thoughts.

He was working overtime every day at a company job he wasn’t sure was worth it. And every time his mind drifts, it all falls back to a single question.

 

_Is this really what I want?_

 

He lets out a sigh as he realizes he’s not reading anymore, and refocuses to the best of his abilities.

But somewhere in the back of his mind, a melody flows through, and he finds himself humming along without much thought. Then the song seems to get louder, overtaking the words on the page and he notices someone come to sit next to him on the bench.

 

Their eyes meet for a brief moment, but neither of them do anything, and in a second they’re back in their own worlds.

 

_What’s the name of that song?_

 

“Sorry, can you hear it? I didn’t think my music was that loud.”

Jinyoung turns to look at the stranger, expression blank but mind muddled. He didn’t say anything out loud, did he?

“Ah, it’s okay.” He finally says and offers a small smile, friendly enough but it feels fake. “What is the name of the song though?” He figures he should go along with it. Shutting down the conversation just seemed like the wrong way to go and would only make them both more uncomfortable than they already were

“It’s I am Light by India.Arie. Do you know it?” The other boy’s expression seems a little cold, but Jinyoung figures he’s no ray of sunshine either.

“I think I’ve heard of it,” he lies. He doesn’t know why he’s lying, but he does it anyway.

“Ah, okay. Cool.” The stranger nods, and they both turn their heads straight.

 

“I’m Jinyoung by the way.” He catches the other boy’s attention with that, surprising them both and carrying on the conversation.

“Jaebum.” He dips his head in a nod that Jinyoung returns and the air was filled with awkwardness that was almost palpable. Then Jaebum turns his head straight again and Jinyoung notices a couple of moles over his left eye before he too turns his gaze away, and back down to the book in his hand.

It’s still again, until the quiet creak of brakes fill the silence.

 

“This is my bus,” Jinyoung offers, still not sure why he bothers. “Nice meeting you, Jaebum-ssi.”

“Nice to meet you too.”

 

Jinyoung gets on the bus, finding a seat and letting himself take one last look out the window at the other boy as the bus pulls away.

 

 _He’s kind of cute_ , he thinks.

 

The music fades from Jinyoung’s mind as quickly as it came, and it occurs to him that he might have just met his soulmate.

 

Some people are cynical, refusing to believe in soulmates. The only times they change their minds, are when they do finally meet their other half.

Sometimes it’s platonic, sometimes it’s romantic, and although rare, some people have more than one soulmate altogether.

Jinyoung himself, never paid the possibility of a soulmate much mind. Everyone was fated to meet their soulmate, and trying to rush things wouldn’t speed up the process.

 

Mostly, he just wonders what it was like, and what kind of person they’d be.

Most of all, he wonders what being around them would be like. Supposedly, when you get close enough to your soulmate, you can hear each other’s thoughts.

 

That idea both terrifies and fascinates him.

 

The romantic in him likes the idea, there’s complete communication and no secrets between each other.

The rest of him rejects the thought.

 

He likes to keep personal things to himself. He supposes that thought might change once he’s met his soulmate, but for now, the idea of someone being able to see what’s inside his head makes him nervous and he feels vulnerable at the mere thought.

So when he thinks that he might have met his soulmate, he doesn’t know what to do. He supposes if he’s right, they’ll run into each other again.

 

But he hopes he’s wrong.

The last thing he needs is another distraction. And that stranger definitely seems like he would be a big fucking distraction.

 

***** ***** *****

 

Jaebum isn’t sure he believes in love. At least not for him.

 

When he was in high school, he fell in love with a girl in his class. And in their senior year, he finally mustered up the courage to ask her out. They started dating and seemed to become the _it_ couple at school. It was the perfect high school romance and they were lucky enough to have it last into university.

He thought she loved him back, and so did she. But then after 4 years together, she broke up with him.

 

She found her soulmate and it turned Jaebum bitter.

 

He wished her the best, and for all his anger at their break up, he still cared about her.

At the end of the day, he wanted her to be happy and accepted that it just wouldn’t be with him.

 

But after that, he didn’t date much.

 

He went on the odd blind date when his friends pestered him into it, but they all fizzled out.

He just didn’t see the point in getting invested in someone if at any moment they could meet their soulmate and leave him behind again.

 

2 years passed by like that, and Jaebum became used to being single.

He didn’t bother trying to change it.

 

He had close friends, he had his family, and when he felt like it, it was easy enough to pick up a girl for the night.

He found contentment like that, and found pride in his work. He didn’t need a soulmate for his life to revolve around.

So when he heard someone else’s voice in his head, he didn’t know what to do.

 

He rejected the idea, forcing himself to believe that he heard the voice outloud, and hid the tremor in his voice. He was happy with his life as it was. He didn’t need it to change.

It forced him into an awkward conversation with a stranger at a bus stop, but it was better than the alternative. Then in no time at all, the other boy got on a bus and went on his way.

 

Jaebum turns up his music as loud as it would go to drown out any thoughts, but one still makes its way through, and the voice isn’t his.

 

***** ***** *****

 

For some ungodly reason, Jinyoung woke up a full hour and a half earlier than usual and for the life of him, couldn’t fall back asleep.

 

But he didn’t want to spend any extra time in the office, so he made his way to a coffee shop a couple blocks from his apartment.

His thoughts are a mix of ‘ _I’m tired_  ’, ‘ _What should I get_ ’, and of course ‘ _Why do I do this to myself?_ ’.

 

He lets out a yawn in chorus to the bell ringing as he opens the door and is left wondering how the cafe can be so full early in the morning. He considered himself a morning person, at least most days, but all the same it seemed a bit much.

There wasn’t an empty table in the whole cafe and as he waited in line, he let the background music play in his mind, too tired to hum along, but awake enough to appreciate the song choices being made.

 

By the time he gets to the front of the line, he decides on a plain coffee. Ordering something fancier wouldn’t have been a hassle, but he couldn’t be bothered regardless.

With his coffee in hand, he turns to face the room, hoping that a table had freed itself up. Much to his chagrin, that was not the case.

So he scans again, looking for someone sitting by themselves, and spots someone with their hood up, engrossed in his computer. Perfect, really. Jinyoung could sit and they could completely ignore each other.

 

He makes his way over, and seeing earbuds hanging down, he waves his hand to get the other boy’s attention.

“Sorry to bother you,” and he flashes a small smile. “All the tables are full, do you mind if I sit here?”

“Ah, yeah, sure.” And his hands fumble slightly, but quickly scoop up the papers he had spread out. They weren’t in the way of where Jinyoung was going to sit, and it made Jinyoung laugh under his breath all the same.

“Thanks.” He sits down, places his coffee on the table and reaches into his messenger bag to pull out a book.

 

_Isn’t that the same book as that other guy? I guess it’s popular._

 

“Hm?” Jinyoung looks up brows furrowed like he’s not sure if he heard correctly.

“Oh, I didn’t say anything.”

“Ah, okay.” Jinyoung turns his attention back to his book. _I could have sworn he said something. Weird._ He tilts his head to the side before flipping through the pages to find his bookmark.

 

_I guess he likes to talk out loud._

 

Jinyoung looks up again, this time staring him down. Surely it’s not the guy from the bus stop. He can’t remember what he looked like, but he did remember a couple of moles over the strangers left eye.

He’s caught staring, but sure enough, there the moles are.

 

“Can I help you?”

“Ah, no.” _It’s Jaebum, right?_ he thinks.

“Have we met before?” _How the fuck does he know my name? He doesn’t look at all familiar._

“Yeah, at a bus stop? It was a few weeks ago. You might not remember.” _Hell, I barely remembered._

“Oh god.” Jaebum’s tone drops and a look of dread forms on his face.

 

If Jinyoung hadn’t been feeling something similar he would have been offended.

 

“Nice to see you again, too.”

“Sorry, I just...” He trails off, then, after a moment. _Can you hear this?_

“Yeah.” It’s quiet and Jinyoung’s not sure where to go from there. Jaebum’s lips definitely didn’t move, and yet, there his voice was, echoing in his head.

 

“Fuck.”

 

“I get that you’re not thrilled, I’m not exactly jumping up and down either, but isn’t that a bit much?”

This guy is supposed to be his other half and he looks like it might be the end of the world.

“Sorry, I just-” He cuts himself off but Jinyoung hears the rest of the sentence anyway.

 

_I guess we’re meant to be best friends but I’m a little disappointed you aren’t a girl._

 

“Ouch.”

 

And Jaebum looks at him with a face of horror.

 

“Fuck, I didn’t mean that.”

 

“Of course you did.”

 

Jaebum shuts up, he can’t help but feel guilty about it, but it’s not something he can take back.

 

“Maybe I should go.” But he only gets as far as standing before he feels a tug on the sleeve of his jacket.

 

“Wait.” He glances down to see Jaebum’s hand holding it, and meets his gaze just as Jaebum pulls his hand back like he accidentally touched wet paint. Then he lets out an awkward laugh. “I was just a little surprised. Can we start over?”

Jinyoung stares down at him, weighing out his options. He figures things can’t get any worse they already are, so he shrugs and sits back down.

 

“Sure.”

“Great. I’m Jaebum, I’m 25, and I’m a bartender most nights and music producer all others.” He puts on a small smile and reaches out for a handshake.

“Jinyoung,” and the younger reaches out to shake his hand. “I have a desk job at Gangsu Group. And I’m 24.”

“Really? Call me hyung.”

“Sure.” With that, Jinyoung sips at his coffee and an uncomfortable silence falls between them.

It’s filled with the chatter of those around them, and a song playing softly in the background, but the quiet still felt deafening.

 

“So,” Jinyoung starts and he sees Jaebum’s relief in his eyes. “What kind of music do you make?”

“Ah. I’m a big fan of hip hop and RnB. Do you…” and there’s a pause. “Do you want to hear some?”

Jinyoung smiles at him and nods.

“Sure.”

 

Jaebum looks like he’d be cold, and maybe it’s just the context of which they met, but he seems a lot more awkward than he looks. And maybe Jinyoung thinks it’s endearing.

But suddenly he feels a wave of nerves and it throws him off. _Why do I feel nervous?_

Then,

_You don’t, I do._

And he looks up to see a sheepish smile on Jaebum’s face.

“This is weird, huh?”

“ _Very_.”

 

And after that, the conversation seems to flow a hell of a lot easier.

 

Jaebum’s music is good, not perfect, but pretty damn good considering he isn’t doing it professionally and the closest he had to a studio is a microphone to record with and a laptop computer.

 _His voice is nice too,_ Jinyoung thinks. _It’s clear and he makes it sound pretty effortless._

“Thanks,” and for the first time since meeting, Jaebum flashes him a big and genuine smile. Seeing it makes Jinyoung’s heart beat a little faster, and when his eyes seem to disappear like that, how could his heart not melt a little bit.

“Right, thoughts.” He nods and looks away, a little embarrassed, but not nearly enough for it to show.

“So what do you like to do?” Jaebum draws him into conversation again and Jinyoung flashes another smile. “I know you talked about how work takes up most of your time, but what do you do for fun?”

“I like reading, watching movies, and I play piano.”

“Really? I’d love to hear you play some time.”

“Sure.”

 

Then Jinyoung’s phone goes off, taking focus.

“Ah, I have to go,” as he says it, he’s already pulling on his coat. “But um,” he stops, grabbing a pen from the table and scribbling on the corner of one of Jaebum’s discarded papers.

“Your phone number?”

“Yeah, call me.”

With that Jinyoung heads out, mind already on the work ahead but there's one last thought in his head.

 

_See you later, hyung._

 

And Jaebum is left smiling down at the numbers on the page.

 


End file.
